xgw01's blog

A week ago, Tate found a rhythm against the Philadelphia Eagles, but the big
plays largely weren't there. Then came Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, when
the Golden Tate the Detroit Lions had been waiting wholesale jerseys
for all season emerged.

For the first time all season, Tate looked like the receiver the Lions
remembered from the past two years. He caught eight passes for 165 yards and one
touchdown in a 31-28 win Sunday afternoon cheap jerseys over the
Rams.

"I'm kind of a forget-the-past guy, just keep grinding, just keep working,"
Tate said. "That's really all I can do is just show up to work every day and
control what I can control. I can't control when the ball is going to be thrown
to me or what side [Matthew] Stafford is looking or what plays are called.

"But when my number is called, I can control it from then on. Just kind of,
just kept working in practice, just kept working. Stayed in the book, you know,
just didn't listen to what people were saying outside the locker room and my
chance came. All I did was just do my job, that's all I did."

The Lions needed to see this from Tate. Having him as a threat in the offense
changes the dynamic of what offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter can do. Tate --
and Theo Riddick -- are the most versatile players Detroit has. The Lions can
line up Tate in the backfield, in the Seattle Seahawks
jerseys slot and out wide -- which they did Sunday. And he can make plays
from any of those spots.

This was the Tate with which the Lions are familiar: a shifty, slithery,
elusive yards-after-catch monster who was the perfect underneath and midrange
receiver to take advantage of teams playing Detroit's deep threats, be it Calvin
Johnson or Marvin Jones.

"I just want to win," Tate said. "I was on the sideline, I knew I had a
decent game, obviously things that I did not so well stick out. I was thinking,
with this, had a touchdown and a few yards, but it doesn't matter if we don't
win. I mean, it's deeper than just me having a good game, man.

"If we were sitting 6-0 and I was catching two passes for 10 yards, then I'm
not even sure we'd be talking about me needing this game or not."

Sunday was Tate at his absolute best, a confident, charismatic player who is
unafraid to go over the middle or jump to make the difficult catch. He's not
afraid to move five times in a small space in order to get an extra yard or two.
And that's wholesale NFL
jerseys critical to continue as the Lions (3-3) play their third straight
home game next Sunday against the Washington Redskins.

This is what made Tate an attractive free-agent signing for the Lions in
2014, in what was a different offense with a different coordinator. But Tate's
skills remained the same. Those skills just had not shown up for a while. He
entered Sunday with 134 receiving yards in the first five games combined. He
topped those numbers in one game against the Rams.

That could cheap NFL jerseys
be a sign of things to come for the Lions to get him more involved in the
offense. Because when the Lions do, it typically bodes well for them.